Playmore24Jun 26, 2023
Richard Littler
I went to a busy flea market this morning. This is how my neurodivergent brain (#AuDHD) works.
It seems to me that neurotypical brains can filter out/edit/moderate incoming stimuli or data more easily than #neurodivergent ones. For me, it's particularly noticeable with sound. So, I created a comparison to show you what I mean.
Image #1: Neurotypical brain
Image #2: Neurodivergent brain
@actuallyautistic #ASD #Autism #adhd
Jun 25, 2023 at 11:58amWeb
Show threadRichard LittlerJun 25, 2023
Perhaps this is why autistic people are much more adept at spotting details and patterns in data, but it also illustrates how they can become more quickly overwhelmed.
#autism #asd
@actuallyautistic
Show threadRichard LittlerJun 25, 2023

...and by 'overwhelmed' I mean:

Me: 'Grr. That infernal noise outside is driving me insane!'

Wife: 'What noise? All I can hear is birds.'

Me: 'Exactly!'

@actuallyautistic
#austism #asd

Show threadacbJun 25, 2023
@Richard_Littler There was a cartoon in an old (80s?) issue of Punch showing the offices of the Noise Abatement Society. In it, a man sitting at a desk was clutching his ears and grimacing in pain; outside the window, a leaf fell from a tree.
Show threadLeather Cub Andrew AûJun 25, 2023

@Richard_Littler I've actually had different reactions depending on which noises bother me. Conversations that are loud enough for me to hear when I'm not that close... thumping especially from overhead, lawn equipment, some power tools, as far as birds go it depends if they are chirping or squawking (I get overwhelmed by the squawking), fireworks @actuallyautistic

edit: I forgot to mention screaming kids... a huge trigger for me

Show threadPaul ChernoffJun 25, 2023
@Richard_Littler @actuallyautistic as part of the FTD caregiver community we notice a lot with our Loved Ones. They can’t filter out background noise and often a busy situation will overwhelm them.
Show threadNeverfadingwood 🇺🇦Jun 25, 2023
@Richard_Littler @actuallyautistic Yes, that's exactly how I feel. I don't have ADHD but I am autistic, and selecting the things I should be paying attention to is a nightmare. I'm used to feeling overwhelmed, though. It's the story of my life.
Show threadLeather Cub Andrew AûJun 25, 2023
@Richard_Littler that actually makes sense to me.
@actuallyautistic
Show threadMikeJun 25, 2023
@Richard_Littler @actuallyautistic Auditory Processing Disorder. All me, dude. ASD, all the way.
Show threadgavinhoJun 25, 2023
@Richard_Littler @actuallyautistic https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/jun/20/eye-tracking-glasses-show-viewers-of-bosch-triptych-are-drawn-to-hell-prado-spain
Eye-tracking glasses show viewers of Bosch triptych are drawn to hell

Heat map shows visitors to Prado museum in Madrid spent most time looking at right-hand panel of artist’s The Garden of Earthy Delights

The Guardian
Show threadLaurens 🐐Jun 25, 2023

@Richard_Littler @actuallyautistic I used this photo to try and show what I experience when I'm somewhere busy. Your picture is better, though.

I present to you: the Japanese appliance store.

Show threadKarawynn Long 🦊✍🏻🏳️‍🌈😷♿Jun 25, 2023

@ElBeeToots @Richard_Littler @actuallyautistic

😱😱😱😱🤯😵

Show threadThe Chris of March 🌱Jun 25, 2023
@ElBeeToots @Richard_Littler @actuallyautistic 😵‍💫
Show threadmandelbrot57 🐿️ 🧶Jun 25, 2023
@ElBeeToots 😱 😱 😱 @Richard_Littler @actuallyautistic
Show threadMarc EtienneJun 25, 2023

@Richard_Littler @actuallyautistic Even though I consider myself a highly functional AD(H)D person, this does feel like how I go through life. Though sometime there is the hyperfocus when I concentrate too much on the “Pay attention to me" bit and forget everything else.

Stealing this, bookmarking, something something. Not yet a master of Mastodon yet.

Show threadAlex CulliereJun 25, 2023
@Richard_Littler @actuallyautistic I really appreciate your choice of art in this example, it feels very on-point.
Show threadJamie KnightJun 25, 2023

@Richard_Littler @actuallyautistic as a Hyper-Sensitive Person, I have the same issue - I can’t filter out one conversation in a room full of people talking.

It’s why I stopped going to nightclubs. 😂

Show threadJohn HarrisJun 25, 2023
@knightlie @Richard_Littler @actuallyautistic With me it's music in restaurants. There's one I go to sometimes that likes to sit me directly underneath their muzak. I'm afraid to them I'm now known as that person who always asks about the music.
Show threadAndy McGuire 🐕Jun 26, 2023
@knightlie @Richard_Littler @actuallyautistic This! I does feel shitty to not be able to go out with friends or family. They will say "We'll just go to a restaurant" - but I can be sat at a table with them, I can see and hear them talking, but my brain simply doesn't process the conversation. I can however hear (and process) in crystal clarity a conversation on the other side of the room.
Show threadColon Musk, CEO of GaceXJun 25, 2023
@Richard_Littler @actuallyautistic "neurodivergent" seems like an oversimplification here because I can tell you my ADHD brain does the left one and magnifies it 1000x
Show threadmandelbrot57 🐿️ 🧶Jun 25, 2023
@Richard_Littler
Typical situation in a bar: I hear all voices from all the tables but have problems in understandig the people at my own table. 🙄
(ADHD confirmed, Autism suspected by professional)
@actuallyautistic
Show threadBadwolf303Jun 25, 2023
@actuallyautistic @Richard_Littler A friend on the spectrum blinks her eyes really fast to slow visual stimuli. She says it helps. #autism #adhd #overwhelmed
Show threadRejistaniaJun 25, 2023
@Richard_Littler @actuallyautistic As an autistic person: YES! Except, it's not just people, it's ALL sounds to me.
Show threadJonnyJestJun 25, 2023
@Richard_Littler @actuallyautistic I'm ADHD, and I've been trying to explain this to my psychologist/ friends forever. All stimulus comes at me at "full volume", and gets overwhelming quick. I can't pick a voice out in a crowd, sometimes I can't even understand a voice singing in music.
Show threadCCJun 25, 2023

@Richard_Littler @actuallyautistic my low gain hearing aids for #AuditoryProcessingDisorder have been a metaphorical godsend for this. I get way less overloaded/over stimulated since I got them.

Blue light blocking glasses work similarly for me in those awful fluorescent lighting scenarios, though somewhat less effectively, but much cheaper

Show threadProbably PaulJun 25, 2023
@Richard_Littler I have this trait, and sometimes refer to myself as ND to make it easier to explain to people. I mean, my brain is clearly wired differently than most peoples!

I'm usually fine at concerts because I can absorb my attention in the music and the spectacle, but crowded streets can overload my senses and have, in the past, brought on panic attacks.
Show threadJohan 🌀Jun 25, 2023
@Richard_Littler @[email protected] I've had this image saved to describe that situation. I'm also sound-sensitive, in the sense that I can't listen in that direction, I hear everything all the time. But I can't really process it all, so it just turns into noise.
Show threadMaria The Martian Jun 25, 2023
@Richard_Littler @[email protected] Hard relate. So many sounds, so much input, all at once.
Show threadJeff SikesJun 26, 2023
@Richard_Littler @[email protected] ….. oh my gosh this is how I feel in small or big crowds. I can’t block out any sounds or things happening around me at all and I have to escape after 30 minutes to “let my ears rest” and recharge. That’s neurodivergence?